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Chapter Twenty-Three 11 page

“She is afraid of the Dracule?” He started sliding out of bed and I was glad to see that he didn’t die in the nude. A pair of silky blue boxers clung to his Greek statue of a body.

“I believe so, yes.” I watched as he disappeared into his closet and reemerged tugging on a pair of black pants. I told him about how I had thought Lucrezia innocent until her comment about Renata and I being wary.

He stopped me while pulling on one of his black boots. “Wait, you threatened Lucrezia?”

I thought about my reply and said carefully, “In a way, yes.”

“What did you say to her?”

“I told her to be wary of what powers she chases, for some powers have a way of returning chase.”

He sat on the floor lacing his knee high boots. “I do not know whether to be proud of you or afraid for you. I would not say that threatening Lucrezia is exactly a wise thing to do.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s wise or not, Vasco. If I pass the trials and become an Elder and she keeps trying to torment me, she’ll be challenging my status within the clan.”

“You’re not the only one she enjoys trying to torture, colombina.”

“I know there are other Elders that Lucrezia verbally toys with, but she manages not to overstep any boundaries with them.”

“She’s perfected the art of being an irritant while remaining outwardly courteous.”

I nodded. “Precisely. She will insult the Elders in such a way they cannot always take outright offense. I do not think she will spare me the outward appearance of courtesy if I rise in status.”

“You are probably right,” he said, sitting at a vanity table in front of a large mirror. He began practically trying to rip the bindings out of his hair, tugging at them vehemently enough that I knew he was ripping strands of hair out with the force of his efforts. I placed the sword on the bed and went to him, shooing his hand away from his hair.

“Let me do it, Vasco. You’re going to rip your hair out doing it yourself.”

He met my reflection in the mirror. “I do not have the patience for it.”

“I noticed,” I said, carefully undoing the first black binding. I tossed it on the table and used my fingers to unravel the braid. The silver strands were a bit more difficult to unknot, as they had been carefully laced at the base of each braid.

“Who braided your hair for you?”

“One of the younger ones,” he said. “She took a fancy to what she said was my pretty long mane.”

“And so you let her play with it?”

“Why not?” he said and his eyes started closing like a lazy cat’s. “I don’t mind the pampering.”

The corner of my mouth twitched. “Sometimes I think you were supposed to be a girl, Vasco.”

He grinned at me wide enough to flash fang. “With a body like this?” he asked, touching the middle of his chest with one hand.

I thumped him hard on the back of the shoulder. He awarded me with a masculine laugh.

I was on the last braid, trying to untangle the silver tinsel when he asked me, “You think Lucrezia is involved?”

“The Dracule said it was a male that summoned her.” I loosened the tinsel, freeing it of the long black strand. “I do feel that somehow, Lucrezia is involved.”



“The matter is figuring out how she’s involved,” he said, “and what she has to gain, considering.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed there’s a fair amount of tension between our kinds.” I leaned over to retrieve the brush from the table. I started brushing out the untamed waves of his hair, pulling it back so that I could braid it.

Vasco laughed. “Fair amount. That’s an understatement. It’s been an ongoing animosity for too many years to keep track of. I do not understand why a Dracule would side with a vampire.”

“Because they hate us?”

“Or love us,” he said. I wasn’t sure what to say to that and so we ended up sitting in silence. Finally, I changed the subject.

“When did you get the piercings? I’ve never seen you wear them.”

“I’ve had them,” he said, “since Pantaleone.”

I nodded, procuring a black band to secure at the end of the braid. The braid fell to the middle of his back.

“You should finish getting dressed. We need to find Renata and meet with the others.”

Vasco stood and I suddenly found myself wrapped in the circle of his arms. I hugged him back, resting my cheek against his bare chest.

“It’ll be okay, Epiphany.”

“I hope so, Vasco. I truly do.”

“We’ll figure it out, mia sorella. It’s not the first treacherous conspiracy we’ve had to unravel within the clan and it won’t be the last.”

Hate and love. Love and hate. I wondered if Vasco had a point. If so, which was it? Or was it something else entirely?


Chapter Twenty


I learned that the vampire the Dracule had taken was named Karsten. I had never spoken to him and did not know him, but he was one of the Underlings and in his years of servitude. Once Renata refreshed my memory, I knew he was the one who had been turned by the Elder Rosabella.

The turning of a mortal to vampire is not a common thing and only happens when the Queen herself decides or grants permission to bring someone over. In my years among the Rosso Lussuria, Karsten was the only mortal I had known chosen by one of the Elders to become a vampire. Like me, Karsten had been taken by the Cacciatori.

Unlike Renata, I do not think it was a matter of pity with Rosabella. Karsten had been healthy when she had taken a fancy to him. She was a creature of whim. She desired Karsten and so sought Renata’s permission to turn him some thirty years ago. Renata gave it, allowing Rosabella to give him the kiss of death and rebirth.

Rosabella had taken the news surprisingly well. She had seemed disappointed when Renata told her of Karsten’s fate, but other than that, she showed no outward signs of grief. Nor did I empathically sense any from her.

Renata had called upon only the Elders that she knew without a doubt were loyal to her. I was surprised to find that the list was not as short as I had thought it would be. Out of the twelve Elders, eight of them were in attendance. We met in the sitting room connected to Renata’s chambers. I sat on the floor next to Renata in her high backed chair. Even if she had been seated on one of the couches, I would not have sat next to her. She was the Queen of the Rosso Lussuria, and so had her throne. Vasco sat on the end of the couch closest to me. Since I was not yet an Elder, I did not sit beside him, as I was not yet in status equal to him.

Nirena, with her long white-blond hair and pale face, sat next to him. Vittoria and Vito sat beside her. They were twins. Both had clear blue eyes, narrow chins, and hair the color of dark coal.

Alessandra and Lorrenzo were seated on the smaller couch. Alessandra’s slim face was blank and youthful. Her brown hair that was several shades darker than Lorrenzo’s cupid-like curls fell loose around her shoulders. They were lovers and had been since before I was introduced to the clan.

My gaze flicked from them to Severiano. His hair was pulled away from his face, showing the severity of his sharp features. It was the same reddish brown of hawk feathers. He had never threatened me, but the way he watched everyone as if he were the bird of prey that his features mimicked had always been a bit unnerving.

Rosabella shifted in her seat at his side and I turned to look at Vasco, who was watching the two very intently.

“So it is true,” Severiano said, “Epiphany is indeed your pet again?”

“Whether she is or is not my pet is none of your concern, Severiano. Does Epiphany being my pet hinder my ability to rule as your Queen?” She fixed him with a look of cool disinterest.

Severiano inclined his head. “I meant no offense, Padrona. I was only curious to find out if the rumors were true or not.”

“You did not answer my question, Severiano.” Her words were spoken very carefully, very slowly. The warning in them was something tangible, like a match near the tip of my tongue. “Does Epiphany being my pet hinder my ability to rule as your Queen?”

“You know it does not, Padrona.”

“How is it a matter of such importance to so many of you when it does not concern any of you?”

Nirena gave a short laugh. “There are those that feel spurned, Padrona. Those that would gladly give you their affection were you to offer your attention and make them feel special.”

Renata looked at her. “And are you children squabbling over a mother’s doting affection?” Her dark brows arched splendidly with the question. “No,” she said, “you are vampires. You are the Elders of the Rosso Lussuria. It is time you start acting like it. The last concern any of you should have is whether or not I have taken Epiphany to my bed again.” She fell silent for a few seconds before turning to Vasco, giving them her profile. “What is your concern?”

“I am concerned with finding the traitor that summoned one of the Great Sires to kill us while we slept,” Vasco said, and I knew he’d said “slept” for a more politic term.

I looked at each of the Elders. Despite the fact that most of them had enough practice at keeping a face blank from emotion, I knew more than what was readily seen. I opened myself, and like stretching out a hand to feel the folds of different fabrics, touched their emotions, drew that material into myself.

Rosabella was shocked at the mentioning of the Great Sire, as Renata had not told her that Karsten had been taken by one of the Dracule. It was the first true sputter of emotion I’d sensed from her since she’d walked into the room.

When I had asked Renata how the Dracule killed, she would not tell me. The only wisdom I gleaned was that they do not leave a mess. I stopped questioning at that point.

Lorrenzo was filled with disbelief. Alessandra’s emotions changed, at first disbelief and then settling on a reserved fear and hope that it was not true.

Vittoria and Vito were somewhat appalled, but at the same time their emotions seemed calmer, steadier, and more certain than any of the other Elders. I knew then that they believed Vasco’s words and did not doubt. I sensed Severiano’s curiosity, which did not surprise me. After all, he led the Cacciatori.

From Nirena, I sensed uncertainty, as if she were not quite sure how she felt.

Vittoria spoke then, in a voice that was low and clear. “If what you say is true, then we are in grave danger.”

“That is why finding the traitor responsible for summoning one of the Great Sires is of utmost importance,” Renata said. “That is what you should each be concerned about.”

“How do we even begin to figure out who is the summoner?” Vito asked his sister. “It could be any number of us, any one of us sitting here in this room right now.”

“He’s right,” Vittoria said, watching Renata. “It could be any of us or any one of the vampires in the Sotto, lesser and Elders alike.”

“It’s a suicide mission for an Underling to summon one of the Great Sires,” Nirena said. “Not to mention the fact that none of them know who the Great Sires are or what they once were. The Donatore have no power to use to make a summons—”

“The Dracule said that the summoner was a man,” I said softly.

They looked at me then, every one of them, and I fought years of court instincts not to turn away. I returned their stares, forcing myself to face them. In order to become one of them, I first had to think of myself as equal to them.

It was not an easy thing, after so many years.

Vittoria and Vito shared a glance with each other.

“You spoke with it?”

“Yes. I spoke with her.”

“How do we know you did not summon it?” Alessandra asked and I turned to meet her light golden eyes.

“I did not summon her, Alessandra.”

“You could have,” Lorrenzo said. “You have been close to the Queen, close enough to learn things you wouldn’t normally have known if you had not been her pet. You came into your powers long before your two-hundredth year of rebirth.”

“As loathe as I am to agree with him,” Nirena said, “he is right. She has been your pet. Perhaps she summoned the Great Sire to gain revenge on us?” She sounded more thoughtful than accusatory. “Or simply to gain revenge on you for casting her aside those years ago.”

“How do we know you are not saying it is a man merely to rule yourself out as a potential suspect?” Rosabella asked.

I shook my head. So far, Renata was not stepping in. I had to handle their accusations myself. I raised my face and smiled, but not like I meant it.

“If that was my plan, Rosabella, it didn’t work out very well, now did it? In fact, why would I speak up at all if I knew it would only attract your attention? I could have simply kept my mouth shut and none of you would be aiming accusations at me.”

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Renata laughed.

“Very well reasoned.” She touched my hair briefly. “If it were not for Epiphany, many of you might not have risen this night.”

Severiano leaned forward. “What exactly do you mean, Padrona?”

“Epiphany,” she said, “show the Elders of the Rosso Lussuria what I mean.”

I raised my sleeve and bared Iliaria’s sigil at my wrist.

For some, it erased doubts. For others, it only added to them. I had wondered if those Renata had called upon were worthy enough to be trusted. I tried to read them while they gazed at the sigil and did not sense anything that gave me a clue as to who the traitor was. There were only four Elders that were not in attendance, and the ones before me were not giving anything away.

“You are bound to the monster that took Karsten?” Rosabella asked. I might’ve thought that the horrified sound in her voice was over her lost Karsten but knew it was not. She emphasized the word monster, and I knew by looking at her that her horror was at the fact that I bore the sigil of one of those monsters, not that the monster had taken someone she allegedly loved.

“Yes. I would not call her a monster, Rosabella, as she was kind enough to spare your life.”

“What did it cost you?” Nirena asked and I respected her for the fact that she knew enough about the Dracule to know that I had given something for the Dracule’s favor. I hesitated to call it a price, though it had been. An enjoyable price, but still a price, nonetheless. I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer Nirena’s question without feeling like my privacy was being assaulted.

Renata answered for me. “Epiphany and the Dracule struck a bargain.”

“What kind of bargain?” Vito asked, seeming more curious than intentionally invasive.

“That is for Epiphany to tell, if she wishes.”

“If she wishes us to believe her, then she should tell us,” Severiano said.

I narrowed my eyes. “I took the Dracule to my bed, Severiano. I gave the Dracule my body in exchange that she would harm no more of the Rosso Lussuria.”

After a few moments, Severiano leaned back in his seat. It was a white flag of sorts.

“You must not scare very easily,” Vittoria said, scrutinizing me with her icy gaze.

“Is that a question?” I asked.

Her slim shoulders rose in a shrug.

“How do we know that your sick perversion for this monstrous creature has not clouded your wits and caused you to turn on your Queen, your Siren?” Rosabella scrunched up her nose, looking positively disgusted. “How do we know you haven’t met many times in secret with the demon?”

The look Renata turned and pinned her with would’ve made me sink from the couch and to my knees. As it was, Rosabella flinched.

“I once had several alliances amongst the Dracule, Rosabella. A couple of those allies I would have considered almost friends.”

“You are the Queen,” Rosabella said, “and within your rights to have alliances.”

“How do we know that Epiphany has not been meeting with the Great Siren in secret?” Alessandra seemed a little paler than usual, but her voice was steady enough.

“When Epiphany first met the Dracule I was there, Alessandra. When Epiphany took the Dracule to her bed, I was there. Do you have any more questions that are a waste of my time?”

“Vasco said that the Dracule was summoned to kill us?” Nirena asked. Out of all the Elders, I was noticing that very little slipped past her studious attention. She was observant, which was a powerful tool but potentially a dangerous weapon, depending on how she wielded it.

“Yes,” Renata said.

“How is that possible?” Nirena asked, brows furrowing. Her eyes widened slightly. “They have a stone.”

We had already spoken with Renata of the Stone of Shadows. She had already suspected that whoever had summoned the Dracule was using one. After all, it was one of the few relics that kept a vampire alive and safe during the daylight hours.

“So it would seem,” Renata said. “Whoever summoned the Dracule is working with one of them, I suspect.”

“That’s the only way they could get the stone,” Vittoria said.

“One of the stones, at least,” Vito said.

“How many stones are there in existence?” I asked.

He shrugged much as his sister had earlier. “All of the Great Sires are capable of creating them.”

“Ah, but they are not so easily made,” Nirena added.

“No,” Vito answered, “not easy, but not impossible either.”

“I will give you that,” she said smiling coyly.

“What do you want us to do?” Vittoria asked Renata.

“I have called upon only those of you I trust without a thread of doubt,” Renata said and I resisted the urge to glance at Rosabella and Allesandra. Rosabella might not have liked the Dracule, but it did seem she was strangely loyal to Renata. Alessandra, I sensed, was too afraid of the Queen to go against her. Renata turned to Lorrenzo and it wasn’t until I saw his Adam’s apple bob and felt the wash of fear from him that I knew he too was afraid of her.

“I want you to be Elders,” she said. “I want you to protect your people. I want you to offer your aid in finding the traitor who summoned the Great Siren.”

“Why not just ask Epiphany if she’ll summon her and offer her something in exchange for the name of the traitor?” Severiano asked.

“When the Dracule are summoned a vampire is not required to give their name, Severiano. If Epiphany could have found the traitor for us, she would have already done so.”

“Point taken, Padrona.”


Chapter Twenty-One


The Elders that Renata trusted implicitly had agreed to help. She’d given them the option of refusing to offer their aid, but most of them were politically savvy and clever enough to discern that refusing to help would make them look terribly guilty. When the rest of them left the room I moved to the couch to sit beside Vasco.

Renata remained seated, slumping forward and looking tired in a way that her immortal body would never truly feel.

I went to her.

“Renata,” I said.

Her hand touched my wrist and I crawled onto her lap, burying my face in the bend of her neck. She snaked her arms around my waist, holding me close.

“What if what Severiano said had some merit to it?” I said.

“What do you mean, Epiphany?”

“What if I summoned the Dracule and asked her to point out the vampire that summoned her?”

I felt Renata tense.

“I could not do it.” I turned to find Iliaria standing in the middle of the room, in the more human of her forms. The glossy cloak of her hair tumbled down the front of her body to her knees. Black leathery wings arched from her back. I was surprised to see that she was fully clothed; surprised because dressing a body with the equivalent of large bat wings didn’t seem an easy task.

She moved, bringing my attention to the full-length coat she wore. The coat had been altered so that her wings could fit through wide-stitched openings. The black panne velvet jacket was accented by highlights of gold silk, a reflection of her gold eyes with their veins of black lightning. The sleeves of the coat widened at the wrists. The coat was fastened between her neck and waist, and where it draped open there was a slit of shadowy gold silk underneath. Beneath the clothes, I did not see her tail.

Renata cleared her throat, making me aware that I was staring. Dressed so exquisitely, the Dracule was worth a stare or two…or three.

“Why could you not tell us who summoned you?” Renata asked, breaking the silence that followed my obvious appreciation of Iliaria’s presentation.

Iliaria raised her chin. “The vampire who summoned me kept his face shrouded. I could tell you his height, his build, would it help any.”

“That may help some,” Vasco said, looking Iliaria curiously up and down, “as it is more than what we presently know.”

Iliaria moved gracefully and predatorily between the two couches, taking a seat on the smaller one.

“I would put his height at about five-seven,” she said. “He was of slim build, not muscular.”

“Could you smell him?” Renata asked.

“No,” Iliaria said, “he used sage to mask his true smell.” What she meant was that, like us, she could smell things mortals could not. We could smell one another’s scent. The vampire had used sage to overpower his own scent, so that all she could smell was the sage. He had kept his face shrouded and disguised his scent, obviously not wanting Iliaria to be able to recognize him by it.

“I am fairly certain that whoever he is, he is working with one of my kind.”

“We suspected as much,” Renata said. “Would you know if he had been marked by one of your kind?”

“If I tried, I would have known,” she said. “I did not consider the possibility that he was working with another Dracule until long after I had been summoned. He was very persuasive. He convinced me that the entirety of your clan had turned against us. He played on my dislike of you. I was a fool.”

It sounded like the closest thing to an apology we would get from one of the Great Sirens.

“You did not know,” I said.

She shook her head lightly. “I was a fool. I came so close to believing what the others have said about your kind, Epiphany. If it were not for you, I would most likely still believe many of those lies. I see now how such fallacy has been used as a means to turn us against you.”

“What fallacy?” Vasco sat back, crossing his long legs.

She tilted her head. “That all of the vampires are ungrateful, have turned against us, and think us the demons and monsters from biblical stories. Some go so far as to say that the vampires will eventually become greater in number than we the Dracule.”

“They’re afraid,” I said, remembering Rosabella’s reaction when she had found out that I wore Iliaria’s mark. “It is easy to fear that which you do not understand.”

She met my gaze. “Indeed, but you as well, little one, feared me when first you saw me. If you feared me, why did you accept my bargain?”

She was right. I had feared her. I’d even thought her a demon, though I’d hesitated to believe it and say it.

“You are correct. I feared you. I feared because I did not know what you were. I feared because I did not understand.”

“Yet still, you took me to your bed. You accepted my offer. Why? Was it only to keep your people safe? Am I mistaken that there was some sincere interest on your behalf, Epiphany?”

“You are not mistaken,” I said, carefully perceiving the vulnerability behind her words. How did I explain to her that I was different than most? How did I explain that a little fear was like a heady wine to me? I finally settled for, “A little fear, for me, can be somewhat of an aphrodisiac.”

She gave me a long and deep look, but there was something distant in her gaze, as if she were looking through me. Finally, a smile played at the corner of her mouth.

“Only somewhat?”

A little more than that, Cuinn added.

Renata’s hand played up my back. It was a comforting gesture, but it caught Iliaria’s attention. The look Iliaria gave Renata wasn’t necessarily malicious, but it wasn’t exactly friendly either. I think it bothered her that I wore her mark, yet, I sat in Renata’s lap, with her hand tracing the line of my spine over the lightweight tunic.

I wanted to go to Iliaria. At least, a part of me did. I wanted to go to her and erase that unfriendly look from her eyes.

As if Renata had heard my thoughts, she stopped stroking my back.

Go to her.

I slipped to my feet and began moving toward the Dracule.

Iliaria watched me, her features drawn. “Do not come to me only because your Queen thinks it a good idea. I do not enjoy being toyed with.”

“I’m not toying with you, Iliaria, and I’m not coming to you because Renata bid me do so.”

“Then why?” she asked, searching my face.

“Because I want to,” I said. “Because I know the unfriendly look you gave Renata is only a mask to hide the pain and longing that you feel.”

“Then you come to me out of pity.”

I bit back a sound of frustration. “This is a delicate dance,” I said, “trying to please you as well as my Queen. You are only making this more difficult for me. Iliaria, I love Renata. I’ve been in love with her for two hundred years. You can’t make that go away. It’s not going to go away. A mark does not erase it. But just because I love her does not mean that I will overlook you. It does not mean that I do not care about how you feel.”

She directed her attention to some vague point in the room. I went to her, touching her cheek with the tips of my fingers.

“Will you one day love me as you do your Queen?” she asked.

“I do not know,” I said, for it was true. Who can say who we will love and who we will not love when love itself is often not a conscious decision? “If I told you I would, it would be a lie, for I cannot know, nor can I foresee the future. But I can tell you that I care and I will always try to be considerate.”

“And how many others do you care for?” she asked.

“I care for those sitting in this room.”

“Epiphany is not casual with her affection,” Vasco said, “if that’s what you’re trying to understand.”

Iliaria looked past me to him. What she thought, I could not say. Her eyes flicked back to me. “I would not have you come to my lap like a pet dog.”

I was about to reply when Renata’s laughter spilled like slow honey into the room.

“If you think I leash her and parade her about the Sotto, you are mistaken,” she said, and I did not have to turn to look at her to know the humor in her voice made her eyes lighter. “She came to me willingly, as willingly as she stands before you, Dracule.”

“I do not understand that,” Iliaria said.

“Epiphany is an empathic vampire,” Vasco said. “When she sees pain in another she feels it and tries to soothe it.”

“She uses her attention and her love as a balm, Dracule,” Renata said. “It is her nature.”

“Is this true?” she asked me. I thought about what Vasco and Renata had said and realized that they had spoken truth. I had never seen myself in such a way, but once voiced aloud, the realization slid rightly into place.

“It is.”

“Still,” she said, “I would not have you come to me in such a way. If you wish to show me you care, stand at my side. I do not ask you to kneel at it.”

I moved to sit next to her and she caught my wrist, stopping me and sending the tingling sensation in the mark to buzzing.

“Not now,” she said. “If you offer comfort now I will not be able to turn it away and I will forget the very reason I came.”

I nodded, stepping back when she let me go.

“What reason is that?” I asked.

She stood. “I came to give you this,” she said, reaching into her long coat and retrieving a small scarlet satchel. She took my wrist again, the one with her mark on it, and placed the velvet bag in my hand. She folded my fingers around it. “It is for you and you alone. I cannot take back my misdeed”—her eyes dropped to her hand still cradling mine—“but I can do this. I can offer you my aid in catching the vampire that tried to destroy your kin.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“Open and see,” she said, letting go of my hand. Her fingers slid across my knuckles and I fought not to shudder at the sweet brush of her skin. She sat back on the couch, watching me.

I opened the bag and guided the contents gently into my open palm. A ring dropped out. It was elegant and appeared to be made of white gold. I raised the ring between my thumb and index finger, examining the smoky black teardrop that caught the light. At its center was a tiny dot of crimson.

“A ring?” I asked.

It was Vasco who spoke, as he moved to the far edge of the couch to see. “That is not just any ring, colombina. That is a Stone of Shadows.”

I stared at the slender ring. It wasn’t large or even impressive in size. On the contrary, it was rather dainty.

I didn’t know what to say. If I said it didn’t look like something powerful enough to keep a vampire alive during the day, I would’ve only succeeded in insulting Iliaria’s kind gift.

Vasco stood, peering over my right shoulder. “Do you see the spot of red in the center?” he asked.


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